...ears that can hear the grass grow!

I was never good at biology...but I guess I can safely state that cats seem to have one of the best set of ears in the animal kingdom.  I have seen cats deeply asleep (apparently!) and yet their ears seem to be on constant alert.  It's almost impossible to sneak up on a cat (though obviously there are always exemptions).  I personally hate cats, other than Garfield, but that is another topic.

Jennifer's auditory senses seem to be of a entirely different category altogether.  I have an example to explain.

Bangalore celebrated Ganesha Chaturthi last week.  Visually, it is quite nice to see lots and lots of decorated Ganesha's in the city...but the festival is hard on the ears!  There are drums, crackers, fireworks, people whistling and so on and so forth...most of which takes place from 10 pm onwards!!!  And since it is a religious festival, nobody seems to be in the mood to complain.

Obviously, the very thought of Ganesha and Divali  brings a shudder to a first-time dad.  With the entire foundations of the city quivering under the audio-assault of the celebrating masses, I always worry if my kid will be able to get a decent night's sleep.  I mean for a person who hasn't been on this earth for a year yet, these festivals might be too overwhelming.  

So, Ganesha arrived.  And it was as expected.  The mass of believers would carry out their processions only once lights dimmed in the living rooms.  Drums would start their rhythm once people turned off their TVs.  Crackers start bursting once people cosy up into their blankets.  Typical Ganesha celebration.

Jenny was already asleep by the time the spectacle started.  But here comes the shocker.  We must have had at least 6 processions pass by our window during the last one week.  Jenny hasn't woken up to a single one of them!  She just slept through them.  She didn't even turn or toss in her sleep!

And its not that she is hard of hearing...no, she isn't.  And I have an example for that as well.  The moment I cough or put on my slippers or clear my throat or do anything in these lines while she sleeps, she shows signs of waking up!  I don't know how she does it!  Crackers are fine, but dad coughing?  Or hundreds of people walking/whistling/dancing by our window is acceptable, but dad putting on his slipper?  God forbid while Jenny baby is sleeping!

I am yet to figure out this enigma that is my daughter.  And I doubt I shall ever completely succeed.  

A travelogue of sorts

People who know me and have heard of my travel experiences know that I am mostly beset by a whole range of misfortunes during the progress of the journey.  In fact, I often 'flatter' myself that I have experienced everything there is to experience in a Kerala-Bangalore journey.  Bus Journey!  Let me elaborate by sharing how this time's travel went.

It was Onam 2010.  Onam is the festival of Kerala, that is celebrated by each and everyone.  It is a ten-day celebration, that includes a sumptuous meal (purely vegetarian, for a change!), games, flower arrangements, shopping, tying up of swings and so on and so forth.  Schools and colleges are also closed for 10 days for Onam.  The capital (Trivandrum) gets into the celebration as well by declaring the Onam week and the Tourism Week in Kerala, and the entire city will be full of illuminations (colourful lights decorating the streets and buildings), and with plenty of cultural programs as well as exhibitions and discount sales everywhere.  The week culminates with a procession through the streets with different kinds of displays and decorated vehicles from all over the state, colleges and government departments.  And this is just the scenario in the city.  There are other events happening in Kerala during this season as well, the most famous of all being the 'Snake Boat Race'.  What I intend to highlight here is how festive the atmosphere is in the state once Onam comes along.  

Another detail worth mentioning is how difficult it is to travel comfortably to Kerala.  Trains are constantly overbooked.  If one intends to make a reservation by train to travel to Kerala, one really needs to do so 90 days in advance.  If one gets delayed even by a week, it's the reservation list.  Travel by plane doesn't really make sense unless one lives in Trivandrum or Cochin (where the airports are located); it would take me at least 3 hours by road to get from any of these airports to my home in Kerala.  The other alternative is to go by bus.  Now, the positive aspect about buses is that there are plenty of them.  The major flaw: there are so many of them that they have become so complacent that quality has taken a back-seat.  Bad seats, delays en route, frequent break downs, mediocre restaurants, etc.  These are all things the travellers have to adjust with.  I am not saying all bus companies are like this, but it is still a general trend.  And oh, the booking period for buses is usually 14 days.

Regular reads would know that Anuja and Jennifer had left for Kerala almost a month in advance before I could go. So, I booked my bus ticket on time and made sure everything was ready for the journey from my side.  The day of the journey came.  I reached home from office 2 hours before I needed to report to the travel office.  By bags were packed and I was good to go.  The day was Friday and it was two days before Onam.  Time was approximately 1500 and the reporting time and departure time were 1730 and 1800 respectively.  

I was about to leave office to get home, when literally out of the blue, disaster struck!  My body started heating up and I was shivering.  I got home and it got worse.  Anyways, I refused to take any medication as I feared I would fall asleep and would miss my bus.  I braved the shivers and somehow made it to the travel office.  I called my sister and her husband in between and requested them to help me depart as I felt I was too weak to do things on my own.  God bless them, they came and helped.  I got onto the bus, took my pills and off I went (half an hour late).  

Dinner was on time, which was a good sign.  We seemed to be making good progress.  How wrong we were.  At half past one, we reached the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border called Walayar Checkpost.  Ideally, it should have taken us maybe another 6-7 hours to reach our destination.  But I guess since it was Onam and the checkpost authorities were overworked (I am being sarcastic here!), traffic was not moving till 6 am!  Nothing was moving.  We were standing outside the bus in a mild drizzle till half past six, till things started moving again.  And once the sun rises in Kerala, traffic conditions change.  Roads are narrow in Kerala, but drivers are rash.  I think the reader can visualise the rest.  We moved so slowly.  We finally reached the stop before mine (where we should have reached at 7 am) at exactly 1700!  Since it was already very late, they wanted to call us a taxi to take us to the next destination as the bus immediately had to return to Bangalore with that day's passengers, who were already waiting since 1500!  So, I called my dad and he picked me up and I finally arrived home about 10 hours late!

I reached home with anticipation on how Jenny would react once she sees me.  After all, it's been exactly 3 weeks since she has seen me last.  I got home and there she was outside the door waiting in her mother's arms.  It might have taken her maybe 5 minutes to smile at me properly, but then she immediately got into my arms and things were as they were before!  

A word about Jenny.  She appeared well when I saw her.  She gained some weight and her facial features had gotten more pronounced.  But behaviourally, she had changed a lot.  If she was cuddly before, that particular trait has increased by leaps and bounds!  She would just come and lean against me, or put her head to my chest, or do similar things.  Also, she makes attempts at speaking to us.  She hasn't mastered 'mama' or 'dada' yet, but she is very close!

But I couldn't immediately enjoy all this.  The elongated trip had taken its toll on me, too.  I had to go to the hospital and got a set of medicines, antibiotics and an injection.  Apparently, I had gotten a viral fever that was doing its rounds, told me the doctor who was coughing himself!  So, out of the one week I had at home, I spent 4 days in bed, sustaining myself with pills and fluids and hating all families of viruses for not allowing me to enjoy the food nor the stay at home!

Towards the end of the week, we did a family trip to Trivandrum, visited old hostels, colleges and peers, enjoyed the illumination in  the city, had a nice coffee at the beach and returned the next day.  The trip back to Bangalore was fine, too.  We drove down and took a nice, scenic route that kept us from crowded Kerala roads and got us back to Bangalore in 11 hours!  

Thus Onam 2010 got over.  I am amazed at how much can happen in so little time.  But if I ignore all the hardships of the trip and tell myself that I suffered all this just to get Jenny back to Bangalore, it was all worth it. 

Hearing and Seeing

It is humanity's biggest vice to be interested in gossip or second hand information.  We love to hear about the lives of others.  Be it about relatives, neighbours, friends, colleagues, celebrities, villains...we love to hear stuff.  Be they true or not.  And we help these stories survive.  I remember (years back) I received a forward with 'photographic proof' how NASA faked the first moon landing.  Well, I don't think anyone of us believed the matter, but it still did not stop us from forwarding the mail to our contacts, just because we thought it was an interesting mail.  And I am quite sure, they would also have forwarded it on.  Thus the news spread.

It makes me often wonder how much value and importance we give to the 'spoken word'.  I would think that it is often something that depends from whom it comes.  For example: a friend might tell me a certain piece of information that might seem very unlikely.  I think I may remain sceptical also.  But if I had seen this piece of information in the newspaper (and that, too, on the front page) or if I had seen a documentary on it by a prominent channel known for its quality documentaries, I might have believed the matter quicker.  Which is why I guess people feel more cheated and outraged when the head of states are accused of lying rather than 'petty' players being convicted of being deceptive.

I think all of us realise that we rather believe what we see with our own eyes than what we hear.  Even if we come across things where we have to say, "I couldn't believe my own eyes", ultimately we will believe what we saw.  We trust our eyes/vision that much.  We might accept that we have misunderstood something that was said, but we will never say that we 'mis-saw' something.  

I am myself not sure where I am going with all this.  I haven't seen Jennifer for almost three weeks now.  And three weeks for an infant is three weeks of uninterrupted growth.  I swear: babies seem to grow by the day.  You buy them a dress now and within a week, it starts signs of being 'smaller'.  

All these three weeks, I have been hearing from Jenny's mother and Jenny's grandparents about Jenny.  I hear about how Jenny chases the cats, how she plays in the sand, how she started walking around by holding on to stuff, how she has grown bigger and so on and so forth.  And I have not seen a single picture of her yet from her holidays.  Even if the info comes from the most reliable sources, I still need to see her doing all this.  I am not sure if I am just making excuses because I want to see her sooooo badly, but I I'd rather see her doing all these things than hearing about it. I want to see her roaming around...I want to hear her giggle...I want to see her cranky!  And no amount of information over the phone is going to compensate for that.

Another 3 days and I shall have my wish granted.  I shall see Jenny again in three days.  And I really hope, that for the next immediate few months, we won't get separated again! :)

The same night

My last blog entry was on our 15 hour journey to Kerala by road.  I guess I was able to communicate how exhausted and tired we all were by the time we reached home.  We all took refreshing showers, ate homely food and immediately went to sleep.

Regular readers know how Jenny has a habit of trying to jump of the bed.  Since the bed in our room (in Kerala) would not have been able to accommodate all three of us, Anuja decided to sleep with Jenny on the floor; just so that she doesn't have to worry about Jenny falling off the bed.  It might have been around 10 p.m. by the time we went to sleep.  All three of us fell asleep immediately.

Almost at sharp 4 a.m. my wife wakes me up saying, "Your daughter is awake".  Not that Jenny never wakes up, but she usually immediately goes back to sleep after having been fed.  However, if she is 'up' it means she won't go back to sleep immediately.  Being the caring husband that I am (!), I told my wife to sleep on the bed and that I would take care of the kid.

A word about the house: space is ample in Kerala.  Houses are built lavishly...everything is bigger and wider here.  Kids coming from Bangalore love coming to Kerala as they have plenty of space to crawl, run, play and explore.  Same goes for Jenny.  For the next three hours (while the rest of the house was obviously still asleep), she crawled around, explored, and visited all the areas of the house she had access to.  There was no sign of fatigue or anything that this little creature had just travelled 850 km in one stretch.  She seemed even livelier than she would be in Bangalore!  I took some snaps just to show people I am not exaggerating (it was taken on the mobile phone in poor light...kindly excuse the bad quality of the pics).  

 I haven't seen her in almost 8 days now.  But from what I am hearing, she is still exploring and enjoying every inch of ground that she gets extra from what she is used to in Bangalore.  :)

Road Trip

My sister and myself are both 'settled' in Bangalore with our families.  We try to visit our parents once every year with our kids and spouses.  And we try to plan our visits in such a way that all of us (kids, kids-in-laws and grand kids) will be there at the same time.  That makes the period a true family get together.   

This year is no exception.  We have planned our stay with our parents for Onam.  It's not that Onam is a particularly important festival for our family.  But we thought it was nice to be home during festive season and to make the most out of it.  

However, I generally do not take more than a week's leave at a stretch, if it can be helped.  I would rather have 2 or 3 one-week's leaves than a single big chunk of leave.  This would not have left Anuja and Jennifer much time in Kerala. So we decided that mom and kid should go in advance and spend some time with grandparents from both sides, without having to hurry through their vacations.  After much deliberation, we decided that going by car was the best option.  Train was vetoed since they required 3 months' advance booking.  Flights were way too expensive.  Bus seemed to be too strenuous for the kid.  Car seemed the perfect choice.  We could take all the stuff that seemed important for the baby without having to compromise anything.  And we would be able to take as many breaks in between as seemed required.  My father (God bless him!) also agreed to come to Bangalore first and share the 850 km drive with me.

Preparations commenced days in advance.  Shopping...packing...arranging...more shopping...rearranging...shopping...more packing...vaccinations...and so on and so forth.  We were more or less done with the preps two days before the actual journey date.  My father arrived the night before and the car was also checked and prep'd by Friday.  We bought some more provisions for the journey and went to sleep early.

Day of journey: alarm woke us up at 4 am!  Jenny's mom heated up milk and filled up the containers.  Jenny's dad arranged the luggage in the car.  Jenny herself woke up in time to be swooped up into warmer clothes.  We said a short pre-journey prayer and off we went.  

The entire journey took us exactly 14.5 hours.  We had a breakfast and lunch break and 3 feeding breaks.  We learned the hard way (to be read as baby throwing up) that Jenny needed to be fed with the car not moving!  But in general: she was an angel!  I mean it is not an easy feat at all for a 9 month old baby to sit still in a car for almost fifteen hours at a stretch!  At home, once she is awake, she hardly sits still for a minute.  But throughout the journey, she was at peace...she slept well, ate well, enjoyed the ride, loved the breeze from open windows on her face and so on....We were truly amazed on how well she adjusted.

The trip in general was nice.  The route was very scenic...traffic was very bearable...and we did very good time...that is until we reached Kerala.  Kerala never fails to amaze me.  I could always tell I had entered Kerala when I saw the vegetation suddenly grow lush and green.  But over time, I came to realise that another way to figure out that I had entered God's own Country was by paying attention to the roads.  4-lane roads suddenly become single-lane country roads with more traffic than even the 4-lanes could have accommodated; all this with a generous dose of road-works, that include digging and concreting!  It was pathetic.  Whatever time we saved till Kerala, we lost once we got onto our roads.

Anyway, the journey was safe...we reached home well...and more or less at a decent hour.  As soon as we reached, Jenny immediately went into the arms of her grandmother (my mother) as if she had been seeing her on a daily basis.  Another interesting thing was that immediately after having had a bath, Jenny was back to her normal self.  On seeing her, nobody would have believed that this baby had just travelled 850 km in 15 hours!  She was crawling around, shouting, playing and so on as she would have done in Bangalore.

Thus Jenny reached Kerala for her vacation.  More posts regarding her stay there and my stay (without her) here will follow! :)

Saint or Sinner

"Fakir 'beheads' toddler, 'drinks' his blood in Tamil Nadu" - This was a heading in the Times of India a couple of days back (to read the full story, follow the link).  To cut a long story short: a religious man gets a vision of his goddess who demands a human sacrifice from him.  He obliges by beheading an 18 month old child and drinks its blood, too, in order to really please his god.  

Religions often demand acts of piety from its believers.  I am OK with that.  I mean, as long as people believe that their religion offers them a means to salvation or shows them a path to a peaceful existence, by all means make the believers work towards it.  Then again, I would suppose that religion would show the people how to live (via guidelines) and most likely instruct them on what not to do.  It may not have to be as structured as the Ten Commandments of the Bible, but there should definitely be indicators on how to live one's life.

Basically, I would say the underlying message of all religions should be (and would most likely be) that creation should coexist peacefully.  People should respect and never exploit nature.  People should peacefully coexist with other human beings.  I believe that all religions are moving towards this ideal in their own manner with their own philosophy.

But if a god asks of a believer to kill in his name or to wage wars; if this god justifies violence to attain an end, I guess there is something wrong.  Which omnipotent and omniscient power would ask of a believer to end the life of another human being?  In this case, the victim was not even a sinner or a criminal who defied the god; it was an 18 month old child!  I look at my 9 month old child and do not think this 18 month old child could have been much different!  

How dare this animal justify his action attributing his mission to be god-given?  How can anyone justify the taking of a human life?  How can the taking of one innocent life improve the life of another?  How can one call oneself religious if one doesn't have a conscience?  How can one call oneself a human being if one cannot look upon a child with love and compassion?

I really feel something is really wrong.  If any religion or god teaches anything that is not about peace and harmony, I do not think that they should be called 'god' or 'religion'.  Why waste such sublime terminologies on something that cannot and shouldn't even be spoken off in relationship with human actions and beliefs?  There is something seriously wrong in this world...I wish more people would speak out and at least try that such trends are completely done away with.

Daddy's home!

I was travelling for almost a week.  Though in my line of work, trips cannot be strictly called business trips, it was still an official trip!  It was a blend between a road trip and a business trip.  My boss and I travelled by car an approximate of 400 km daily, seeing the sites and visiting places of commercial, social and cultural interests.  Though it was my home state, we visited many places where I myself had never been to.

So, after all the travel, I got home yesterday.  Readers might remember how I expressed my fear before on whether my daughter would recognise me after a gap of a couple of days.  These thoughts were going through my head when I was going up the stairs to my house.

There she was, in her mothers arms.  She looked at me with concentration written all over her face.  Then she smiled!  So, what did I do?  I swept her into my arms like I always do.  Big mistake!  She immediately 'demanded' to go back to mother's arms.  She might have smiled at me, but that didn't mean she was full recognising me yet!  

The next 5 minutes were fully dedicated in re-introducing me!  Once I got her laughing and smiling, I guess she understood me to be the guy who lives in the same house. :)

In two weeks, Jenny and her mother are going on a trip of their own for 3 weeks.  If a 5 day trip required me to spend 5 minutes on re-introducing myself, I am wondering whether the same ratio applies when I meet her again after those 3 weeks.  Wishful thinking, methinks!!!

Marco - Polo

Marco Polo is a children's game usually played in water.  One player is blindfolded and calls out 'Marco' and another random player has to reply 'Polo'.  Marco has then to find Polo while remaining blindfolded...but he/she can keep calling 'Marco' and 'Polo' has to answer.  

Where am I going with this?  Has Jenny started playing?  No.  Has she started swimming?  No.  Then why am I explaining a game that people play in their swimming pools?

We just found out the cutes thing yesterday.  My wife keeps playing with Jenny as if she cannot find her.  She keeps saying, "Jenny!  Where is Jenny?  Where did Jenny go?" and Jennifer usually would come crawling with a big grin on her face!  However, yesterday when the same game was played and when my wife said those famous "where is Jenny" words, our daughter said, "Ga!"  We tried again.  "Ga!"  Again and again, the result was the same.  She somehow figured out that when she is being called, she has to respond.  

I know I am repeating myself, but toddlers never fail to amaze me how they figure out stuff.  I mean we have not taught her how to respond when being called; we find her too young for that.  But somehow she saw my wife and I responding when called and she figured out that she had to do the same.  I have said it before and I say it again, if we were still as smart and observant as we were when we were young, there would be no end to our learning and to the things we gain in our lives.

Spice is the variety of life

What to feed a baby is always a matter of confusion to parents.  Parents are always worried if they provide the right food with the right amount of nutrients which is healthy and tasty to the baby as well.  Initially it seems easy: the baby can get its entire dietary requirements from its mother.  But after the first couple of months, milk somehow doesn't suffice any more!

Luckily, we found a doctor who is quite different in his approach.  From her 4th month onwards, he recommended that we get her started on solid food.  And by solid food, he didn't mean the purred food that supermarkets sell as baby food (Jenny hated it!), but the ordinary food her parents deemed worthy to eat, although by reducing the salt and spices for her.

She is 8 months old now.  For the past 4 months, we have been feeding her everything: from rice to pasta to bread.  From carrots to cabbage to beans.  From milk to juice to porridge.  She eats everything.  Thank God.  And we pay proper attention not to make anything too salty, too spicy or even too sweet (the day she has a bit of sweetness in the form of chocolate or ice-cream, she remains hyperactive for hours on end!).  

However, last week she surprised us.  We had a family dinner with my sister's family at a restaurant.  When one has 3 kids below the age at the same table, order and quiet are too things that stay away from said table.  Not that it was chaos; but it was loud and all kept talking and chatting and feeding babies...and wiping chins...and feeding water...and trying to eat and so on...all of us were super busy!  

In the midst of the excitement,  Jenny took a piece of starter from the plate.  Though the food was not in particularly spicy as such, it was still degrees hotter from what we have given her so far!  But lo!  She didn't even mind the spiciness.  Maybe it was the party ambience or maybe her taste buds are actually stronger that we thought, she 'ate' the starter.  We were shocked and surprised, because she usually cries at the first sign of spice.  Anyway, we learned two valuable lessons on that day. 1) Babies do not behave their usual way when other babies are around, and 2) We have no idea what is spicy and what isn't when it comes to baby's cuisine! :)

Heyy Baby!

If I have not said it before, I would like to say it now: babies are natural relationship bridges.  Wherever we go and whomever we encounter, people immediately start talking and playing with the baby.  And vice-versa.  If we see people with babies, we also take our baby to them and 'make them talk'!  But it is very nice.  It makes one think that if everyone in the world had a baby, everyone would talk to everyone and everyone would be nice to everyone.  It's just a thought.

Till one week ago, Jennifer would realise the significance of seeing other kids.  Other kids would come to talk to her, but she wouldn't know the difference between them and their parents!  However, this week, this all seems to have changed.  We went to a shop and had to wait sometime in the queue.  In front of me was another couple of their kid. Suddenly Jennifer started making these "hey" sounds while looking at the baby.  It may not be exactly like how we would say 'hey' but the message was clear: she was trying to get the baby's attention.  I was really surprised.  How does she know how to call out to people?  Who taught her that?

And that was not all.  We met some other kids these days, and Jenny immediately crawls up to them (if it is not on the street) and wants to play (which usually involves her pulling their hair!).  The main thing is that she recognises her peers now.  She feels more free with them around.  She knows she can play with them better than with grown-ups.  And all this without anyone actually having to tell her...it is by instinct...it is as if she can sense the purity and innocence in other children that match her own.

The more I get to see how children are and how much love and kindness is in their lives, the more I wonder, "Where did we change?"

The ways of the Ninja

Ninja's were (in simple terms) the assassins of Japan.  They were known for their efficiency and ruthlessness, but especially for their stealth.  They were usually dressed head-to-toe in black and could move about as silent as can possibly be imagined.  They were the best in Japan and feared everywhere.  

The Ninja-quality I would like to highlight here is 'stealth'.  It is a ninja's strongest weapon.  The more silent a ninja can move, the more efficient he would be in his job or in executing his task.  The classic Japanese movies show how masterful ninja's were in running around, climbing, swimming and the like, all the while never making a sound.

My daughter seems to be quite Japanese in this aspect.  My wife and I constantly get surprised by her stealth.  For example:

• Jenny sleeps with both her parents.  In the middle of the night, I sometimes find her sitting next to either of us, wide awake without us having heard a sound.
• She wears silver anklets that make cling-cling sounds while going around.  Still she manages to enter rooms without making the slightest sounds.
• Not hearing a sound from her usually means 'trouble', as she is too preoccupied with something 'taboo' to make noise!  Like putting stuff into her mouth!

We are learning the hard way that when it comes to toddlers, less stealth or less silence the better.  Since they cannot talk, they express themselves through sounds...and if she doesn't make sound, the parent immediately should check!  It might be a false alarm, but there are often instances that prove otherwise.  And silence makes us paranoid as well.  When she is asleep and alone in her bed, and the two of us are not in the room, we keep rushing to her room just to make sure she is not jumping off the bed in silence!  And more often than not, she would still be asleep; but why take chances?  Silence might be golden, but I guess I could do with a little less silence from the baby at home! :)

Bedtime Stories

When one is a first-time parent, one actually welcomes all kinds of advices and suggestions.  It actually is weird since otherwise, people do not appreciate being told how to do their stuff.  But once a baby comes along, we cannot get enough.  We ask people, share information, look up on the internet, read books, watch other parents and so on a so forth.  It seems that nothing we know is enough for us to look after our kid properly.  

Thankfully, there are plenty of websites nowadays that deal with parenting, even from the beginning of pregnancy on. The mother-to-be just has to enter details pertaining to her pregnancy, and she will get weekly and monthly newsletters which are aimed at guiding her throughout the period.  And from our experience, these newsletters are really good.  For example, during pregnancy, we were able to understand what was happening each month, what changes in food my wife had to observe, what things I should do as the supporting husband and so on.  And now, once she baby was born, these newsletters started coming only on a monthly basis, but informing us about the stages of growth in the baby's life, what new food to introduce to the baby, what games to play and so on.  Very helpful and informative.

Likewise, the newsletter 'told' us last month that we should start reading bedtime stories to the baby.  So, my friend and I went to a book store and started looking at options.  Apparently, things have changed here, too.  When I was little, we have fairytales of the Brothers Grimm or Fables and so on.  I used to love them all.  However, my friend and I were amused to find 'Bedtime Stories for Girls', 'Bedtime Stories for Boys', 'Animal Stories' and so on!  I was mildly confused whether I should introduce my girl to boys by making her read 'Bedtime stories for Boys'!  Finally, we opted for a unisex book that mentioned nothing about boys and girls, and which had nice pictures.

Now, there is not much yet to tell about the reading part.  My wife and I take Jenny to bed at more or less a regular time.  Then we take out the book and start reading.  Every page is wonderfully coloured, nicely sketched and has hardly 20 words.  But we end up spending more time on each page that I would have spent on a novel.  We point out the characters in the picture, we make sounds, we make baby point out things and yeah, we read the words, too!  I am 100% sure she doesn't understand a thing of the stories we narrate.  But she still giggles along.  I guess she is encouraging us to keep up the good work!

I myself am a very chronic reader of fiction.  I have been reading about the adventures of Robinson Crusoe, the journey to Treasure Island, the investigations of the Hardy Boys, and the like from very young days on.  And I still remember them fondly.  I hope I can instil this love for books and stories in my little girl and that these books will enrich her life and imagination the same way as they have enriched mine. :)

Recent Developments

• I have mentioned it quite a few times by now that Jennifer loves music.  It's no secret.  Once the music starts playing, and especially if it is a fast number with beats, she sits up and starts moving to the music.  Yesterday, I have witnessed her clapping her hands as well!  And that, too, properly.  Without making any clapping sound!  But she was 'rocking' and 'clapping' nevertheless along with the music.
• Baby's verbal communication so far has been a wide range of shrieks, screams, gaaaa's and goooo's.  But she still manages to get her message across.  However, now she has started using her tongue as well.  She now rounds her tongue and tries to make sounds, converting the gaaaa's into baaaa's and the goooo's into boooo's.  Might sound silly, but it actually looks as if she is getting ready to say her first word sooner rather than later. :)
• She is becoming very adept at crawling.  However, like I mentioned before, she is not satisfied with that.  The day she started crawling, she tried sitting.  Once she mastered sitting, she started trying to stand up.  Now that she knows how to pull herself to a standing position, her next aim is to climb stairs.  And she tries hard.  Whenever she comes near stairs (that go up!), she puts her hands on the next step, stands up but so far has not managed to life her feet, too!  Only a matter of time.
• She likes to have her "teeth" "brushed"!  Only problem is that she doesn't have any yet!  But in the morning, once she is awake, I take her to the sink, and rub her gums...she loves it!  And she likes brushing in general.  When my wife and I brush our teeth, Jenny just stares and doesn't move!  She is just mesmerised by the whole 'brushing' act!  I hope she stays this enthusiastic ones she has to do it herself.

I guess these updates shall do for today.  Incidentally, she completes 8 months today.  Let's see what more developments we can add to the list this time next month when she completes 9!

Beard and spects? Has to be Dad!

A constant doubt that exists in my mind is how babies recognise people?  I mean, I accept babies are clever and all...but how do they recognise people?  

Jennifer keeps meeting 'regulars' all the time.  I have very good friends who come by every weekend.  And there are other kind folks who invite us to their homes so they can see the kid.  Even if Jennifer gets to see them on a weekly basis, it would take her some time to get used to them.  She wouldn't like it if she gets picked up immediately when someone 'new' confronts her.  She would need to be in her parents' arms for some minutes, see the newcomer from a distance and then slowly she would warm up to them.  It's only to people she sees every day that immediate 'picking up privileges' are provided!

I keep worrying that if she were to go to Kerala for a couple of weeks without me, if she would remember me when she comes back.  Would I be a vivid memory or a newcomer who needs to be reacquainted?  Would I have to win her love and liberty towards me all over again?  It's thoughts like these that haunt me when I think of sending her and her mother off to Kerala on vacations without me.

But yesterday, something amusing happened.  A friend of mine dropped by to see Jenny.  He actually was a first-timer in our home.  Now regarding physical appearance, we share a lot of common attributes: both of us have french beards, both of us wear glasses, both of us have been blessed with an over-abundance of physical stature (means we are both fat!) and are almost same height.  So, when he came home and Jenny saw him, she immediately went to him and allowed him to pick her up!  We were amazed.  Which makes me wonder: did she think it was me?  Does she really not recognise me properly yet?  Is it still only externals she goes for first?

Anyways, I am still keeping her under observation.  Maybe someday, I shall understand how she distinguishes one human being from another.  Maybe then I can do something for her to remember me by and I can finally allow my wife to take a home-trip! ;)

Learning to play

One always presumes that children always play and love playing.  Wrong.  As a fresh parent I can say that for the past couple of months, my child had no idea what 'playing' and 'games' or 'toys' were.  It is us parents who were more eager to play with the baby, or buy her toys and so on.  I really wonder what Jenny understood by all this; what she must have thought when I would roll on the ground with her; what she must have thought when we would bring a doll to her face talking in false voices; what she would think when I roll a ball to her...she wouldn't have had a clue about anything!

However, now that she is entering her 8th month, things are changing.  Now she actually got playful.  She crawls around the house, picks up stuff, tastes it first (!) and then starts banging it on the floor, all the while looking at our faces and grinning broadly.  When we all lay down or sit on the ground together, she 'attacks' us making sounds and doing this and that....she knows it is fun and she enjoys it, too.

But it is not only that.  We have noticed that she can distinguish between children and grown-ups as well.  When she meets grown-ups, she always needs some time to get used to them, won't allow them to hold her and will get very cranky if they do.  On the other hand, if it is children who come home, things are different.  She herself crawls towards them, makes attempts to play, or communicate, and so on.  I don't know how she understands that children are different and that she is one of them!  But she does.  

I keep realising that I am giving children (especially infants) way too little credit.  They are much smarter than we think, they learn things faster than we think, they understand nuances much faster than we expect and so on and so forth.  Babies are smart.  They are actually as rational as well are....only in a different manner.  We should give them the credit due to them. :)

What is the world coming to: The custodians have become irresponsible

Yesterday, I had a very interesting discussion with a friend concerning 'anthropocentric theology'.  I know it looks quite complicated, but actually the concept per se is quite simple.  The inclusion of the term 'theology' in this would mean that it is a belief system.  It does not necessarily presume a divine deity or the concept of redemption...it just means that it is a belief system to which people adhere.  

Anthropocentrism: a concept that human beings may regard themselves as the central and most significant entities in the universe, or that they assess reality through an exclusively human perspective (source: Wikipedia).  Therefore, anthropocentric theology is a system of faith or belief where humanity considers itself to be the focal point of creation, superior to everything else and master of all.  Humankind is meant to rule the earth and everything exists for man's convenience.

Being a Christian, by default I adhere to an extend to this theory.  Our belief teaches us that man has been created in God's image and that man is responsible for the earth.  He may hunt, he may cultivate but he has to take care of everything.  He has been put on this earth by God to take care of His creation.  This much is a given.

Let's put the faith aspect aside.  Man does seem to be the most rational of all creations.  He seems to be the most creative one as well.  Man observes, studies, learns and adapts...much better and deeper than any other creation on the planet.  And all that is fine.  Man has not been gifted with abilities to let them remain dormant or allowing them to dry out.  In fact, I personally would consider it to be a sin if someone let's their talents and abilities go waste.  

But that's where I draw the line.  To quote what is most likely the most famous of all comic strip lines, "With great power comes great responsibility".  Ideally, there should not be any poverty on the planet.  Ideally, people should not have to die of hunger and cold.  Ideally, there should not be disparity in wealth and ownership.  Ideally, there should not be crime.  Yet, it is surely clear to all of us that this is not an ideal existence.

If I had a gardener and if I were to see my garden overgrown with weeds, with dried up plants, without proper care being taken, I would dismiss him right away for not doing his duty.  If I had a babysitter, and would find her sleeping while on duty, or engrossed in her own work, or mistreating the child, what would I do?  If I would buy the most expensive of ingredients and give them to my cook, only to find him spoiling them all by deep-frying them, what would I do?  And more importantly, why do would I act in such a harsh way towards the gardener, babysitter, cook or anyone like this?  What is it that would enrage me so much?  Human error I can forgive...lack of knowledge or awareness as well.  But lack of responsibility and a break of trust is not something I can bear.  I entrust the well-being of my child to the babysitter.  I hold the cook responsible to use the ingredients well.  And so on.  When we entrust people with certain duties, we hold them accountable for it.

Why should humanity as a whole be seen any different?  If human beings have been put on this planet in order to live meaningful lives, all the while taking care of what is around us, are we doing our duty?  Let's have a look at facts, shall we?

• How many species of flora and fauna have we driven into extinction or to the brink?
• Haven't we almost completely exhausted natural resources?
• Haven't we polluted everything around us (air, water, environment) to the point where things have gone out of control? (You may read the blog: http://anamika-carpediem.blogspot.com/2010/05/were-all-downstream.html on this topic)
• Aren't we living our lives without any consideration how our lives will impact that of our children?
• Aren't we distancing ourselves from our fellow beings so much that people are becoming more and more isolated and more and more withdrawn to their own lives?

These are just some points to ponder over.  If we were to be evaluated on our performances on this planet as its caretakers, we would do miserably.  How can we call ourselves the pinnacle of evolution, the crown of creation, the master of all, when all we know is how to spoil, destroy and endanger?  It is a sad state of affairs.  And my friend, with whom I was having this discussion, is of the strong opinion that things have gone too far to tread lightly or slowly now.  Drastic steps need to be taken.  Major changes have to be embraced.  If not, I am quite sure, we ourselves will see very bad days to come before we even pass on the reigns to our kids.

I need my sleep!

I think it is not a coincidence that humankind in general loves its sleep.  While animals immediately get on their feet after being born, human beings lie on their backs...for months!  The thing we do the most after being born is to sleep.  The thing we need the most once we start working is sleep.  The thing we like doing the most on holidays is sleep.  The absence of sleep makes us irritable; it makes us sick.  We may not be able to do without it, but we gladly indulge and sleep longer than actually necessary.  And finally, when our life on earth is about to get over, we end up on bed (deathbed) again.  It somehow seems pre-destined that sleep is not something that we can do without.

Jennifer has her own sleep schedule.  She would keep awake for about two hours at a stretch and would then require about half hour of 'power nap'.  This schedule can keep her going quite actively throughout the day.  During siesta time, she might even sleep for almost 60-90 minutes, on a good day!  Even her night time sleep is quite regular; she sleeps from 9 to 6 with only one or two feeding breaks in between.  My point is that she is quite set in her pattern.

And she loves the bed!  Even when she awakes, she likes to remain lying...she would rub her cheeks against the pillow....she would coo-coo....and just absorb the warmth of the blanket.  

However, when I came home after work yesterday, baby was cranky!  Due to some mysterious reason, she did not take her siesta.  So, obviously energy reserves were running low.  And what do people do when they feel weak but do not want to appear so?  They over-compensate.  In this case, she would cry, throw tantrums, kick her feet, wave her hands and thereby exhaust herself even more.  I was impressed that she could keep this up till 8 in the evening.  This must have been one of the longest stretches that she remained awake.

It made me think.  She is almost 8 months old....and I can already envision how we parents might have to struggle to get her out of bed in order to go to school on time; how we will have to listen to excuses that the alarm didn't ring; how someone has to stay up in the night to ensure she won't fall asleep while preparing for exams, etc.  Suddenly, it seems so long ago that we ourselves were victims of sleep and had to be supervised by our parents...how time flies.... :)

The Contest

I have friends who are blessed with an over-abundance of good luck.  A certain friend of mine won an X-Box by calling in to a radio show!  Another friend keeps winning trips to Goa.  Yet another friend keeps getting her phones replaced by the service centre even if the problem was software!  One would think that by the rules of association, I should get lucky, too.  

And finally I did.  I won a certain online contest the other day and got myself a prize all the way from Germany to India!  That did it....I got addicted.  For all I know, this lucky streak might not last very long.  So, I am on the constant search for more contest on our world-wide-web.

Yesterday, I came across another one...and coincidence: this one is from Germany, too!  The theme is to submit a photo/video on 'the reason to shower'.  I know, sounds slightly vulgar, but it isn't!  One look at the site convinced me that it was actually fun.

So, what do I have to lose?  I have a camera, a computer and a model to pose for me: Jennifer!  She absolutely loves to shower.  Though she has her own baths in a bathtub, she still eagerly awaits the evenings where I hold her under the shower for a minute or two...she just adores it....there are giggles and laughs reverberating through the bathroom walls throughout!

I got my wife to stand with the camera and lo!  Jenny actually posed.  Instead of giving her attention to the water / shower, she actually posed for the camera.  I immediately posted one of the photos on the website.  So my big surprise, the picture received 17 votes within the first hour!  I did not expect that...strangers voted for something I submitted to a contest!!!


That got me motivated.  Since today morning, I have been updating my messenger, Orkut, Facebook and all possible statuses updated, asking people to vote for the picture and to tell their contacts to do the same. :)  Heights of desperation, I know.  But I am having fun in the whole campaign.  Let's see how it turns out.  I will update my blog with the final result once the contest is complete!  Thanks in advance in participating.  The link to the voting site is http://www.showerreasons.de/de/galerie.html?loadvideo=431&page=